The present work was carried out to compare two sanitation treatments and to identify some microorganisms associated with fresh cut radishes. Two sanitation methods were evaluated: 1) conventional sanitation: fresh cut radishes received a single sanitation, for 3 minutes in a solution of 200 mg L-1 of active chlorine; 2) additional sanitation: fresh cut radishes were sanitated initially in a solution of 200 mg L-1 of active chlorine for 10 minutes and later submitted to a second sanitation in the same conditions of conventional sanitation. The microbiological analysis was accomplished in two stages: a) just after the cut; and b) in the 10th day of storage at 5ºC (±1ºC) and 90% (±5%) RH. Four replicates of 130 g of fresh cut radishes were used for each day of analysis. The count of psychotropic bacteria in the additional sanitation stayed within the acceptable limits. However in the conventional sanitation at the 10th day of storage, psychotropic bacteria reached 5.8 x 10(6) CFU g-1 equivalent to the maximum recommended limit. Coliforms and Salmonella were not detected in both treatments. A first sanitation, with 200 mg L-1 of active chlorine for 10 minutes, is adequate to obtain desirable fresh cut radishes until the 10th day of storage at 5ºC, allowing the commercialization of the product during the period established by the actual legislation for fresh cut products.
Raphanus sativus L.; fresh cut; sanitation; microbiology
